【推荐3】New This Term at the Meriden Centre

【推荐1】Perhaps you have seen photos of the Grand Canyon(峡谷), the great valley in the State of Arizona. But you must go there yourself to feel its true size and beauty. The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.

The Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon over millions of years. Slowly, the river cut down through hard rock. At the same time, the land was rising. Today the canyon is 1.5 kilometers and 445 kilometers long. The oldest rocks at the bottom of the canyon are more than 1 billion years old. The width varies(改变) from about 200 meters to 29 kilometers across. The top of the canyon is about 2,300 meters above sea level on the South Rim, and about 3,000 meters on the other side. As a result, there are different kinds of plants and animals on opposite sides of the canyon. The South Rim is dry desert country. The North Rim has tall forests.

The canyon looks different at different times of day, and in different seasons and weather. At sunrise and sunset the red, gold, brown and orange colors of the rocks are especially clear and bright. In winter, the canyon is partly covered with snow.

The view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is the best. Most visitors come here and stay in campgrounds or hotels. Every point along the canyon's edge offers a different view.

The North Rim of the Canyon is quieter. It takes all day to drive there from the South Rim because there is only one bridge across the Colorado River. On the way, you go through Navado Indian lands, and a colorful pink desert called "the Painted Desert".

【推荐2】Each of these hotels offers (提供) something special and interesting.

【推荐3】Eight-year-old Maya and her parents were on vacation. They were walking in the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachians are a group of mountains in North America.

Maya’s family were walking on a long, long road. Its name is the Appalachian Trail. It starts in the US state (州) of Maine and ends in the state of Georgia. Maya and her family started near their home in Maryland. This was Maya’s first time to leave her state. After walking for some days, the family took a rest (休息) in West Virginia.

Every evening, Maya and her family would make a campfire. She loved to dance around it. She also enjoyed sleeping in a tent each night. Maya wanted to remember everything interesting on her vacation and she had her special way to do that — drawing. For example, when she came across new animal, she would take out her pencil quickly.

Maya learned that she had to be quiet if she wanted the animals to stay. She also drew lot of flowers. Maya thought that flowers were much easier to draw, because they didn’t run away!

【推荐2】How do you spend your holidays if your parents are out for work?

Zheng Chenyu says that she will be worried. “Where can I find food? How can I cook it?” she says. And she knows little about cooking.

“I have to have tomato and egg soup. I think many of classmates are the same. We don’t know what to do, or how to look after ourselves,” says Zheng.

Although Zheng believes that some life skills（技能）, such as cooking and washing clothes, are very important, she doesn’t think teenagers get enough practice.

Most teenagers only have time for their homework. They don’t learn any life skills until they go to college（大学）. But Sima Yige doesn’t think so. “I think I will be all right. I know how I should cook some easy dishes because my mom showed me,” the 13-year-old boy says, “there is much more to learn than cooking, like making your beds, cleaning your room and wearing the right clothes”.

Have you ever wanted to stop eating something sweet but you just couldn’t? Is it the first thing you do when you get home from school to look in the biscuit box? Can you eat a huge piece of chocolate all by yourself? Can you say no to sweets at parties? If you can’t, then there is a reason...perhaps you are a sugar addict ( 有瘾的人)! Does that sound funny? Well, doctors say that people who often eat sweet food can easily become addicted to sugar. What’s more, most sugar addicts don’t even realize that they are addicted! Sugar addiction is serious because it can really hurt your health. Doctors say that we should eat food which is healthy such as fresh fruits and vegetables, and that we shouldn’t eat a lot of sugar, fat or fast food. But sugar addicts find it difficult to do these. They know they must stop eating sweet food, but they can’t help doing it. Well, here is some advice: